1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unique construction of a storm door for a building, and the method of manufacturing a storm door having this unique construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years storm doors have been produced and utilized to provide an extra measure of thermal and moisture insulation at door openings of a building. Some styles of storm doors are currently formed of one or more panes of glass seated within a surrounding metal door frame.
In the construction of storm doors it is important to avoid direct contact between the metal of the door frame and the glass of the panes held within the frame. The elimination of such metal to glass contact is sometimes achieved by interposing a rubber or plastic gasket between the metal door frame and the glass pane or panes. This is normally accomplished by first laying the panes of glass onto a surrounding, resiliently compressible, water impervious gasket, and then advancing the metal frame members toward the glass panes so that channels or grooves within the metal frame members capture the peripheral margins of the gaskets. The metal storm door frame members are then secured to each other, typically by means of screws, to form longitudinally extending stile members and transversely extending top and bottom rail members. These members are fastened to each other with the gasketed pane or panes of glass held therewithin.
Other styles of storm doors are formed with a fixed glass pane and a sliding glass pane. Each of the glass panes occupies approximately one-half of the length of the elongated opening defined within the frame of the storm door. The sliding glass pane can be moved into a position offset from the fixed glass pane so as to completely cover the opening within the door frame. Alternatively, the sliding glass pane can be moved longitudinally so as to completely overlie the fixed glass pane. This allows air circulation through the portion of the opening vacated by the sliding glass pane. Very typically this opening is covered with a screen offset from the plane of the sliding glass pane. The screen admits air for ventilation, but excludes insects and reduces the passage of solid, airborne material.
The use of a sliding glass pane in a storm door is advantageous in that the user is able to select the level of ventilation permitted by the storm door. Very typically the sliding glass pane will be withdrawn from the portion of the opening which it would otherwise cover during periods of warm weather, and moved back into position longitudinally offset from the fixed glass pane so that the door opening is completely covered during periods of cold weather. The sliding glass pane may be partially opened or closed as intermediate temperature conditions dictate.
In a conventional combination screen and sliding glass pane storm door, the fixed glass pane is mounted within its own frame, which includes a gasket of the type described to prevent direct contact between the glass and the surrounding metal frame. Similarly, the sliding glass pane is also mounted within a separate metal frame in which a rubber or plastic gasket is interposed between the rectangular pane of glass and the surrounding metal frame. The metal frame of the fixed glass pane is secured within the larger metal storm door frame. The metal frame holding the sliding glass pane is also mounted in the larger storm door frame so as to move along longitudinal tracks defined in the storm door frame in a plane offset from the plane of the fixed glass pane.
While storm doors of conventional construction do provide adequate thermal and moisture insulation, they are relatively time consuming and expensive to fabricate. The rubber or plastic gasket must first be wrapped about each glass pane so that the edges of the glass reside within corresponding channels formed in the gasket material.
The pairs of opposing rail and stile members are then moved toward each other at the opposing edges of the gasket material. Care must be exercised to ensure that the gasket material properly enters into corresponding channels formed to receive it in the rail and stile members. The rail and stile members must then be secured to each other by means of fasteners, such as metal screws, so as to ensure that the frame members surrounding the gasket do not separate at the corners at which they meet. The assembly of a conventional storm door therefore takes quite a number of minutes to complete, even in the environment of an assembly line. Due to the labor intensity required to manufacture metal frame storm doors, the expense of production is relative high.